The most beautiful lingerie and swimwear in the world...
Michelle Mone is celebrating ten years of Ultimo in 2009. As a tribute to this Glaswegian designer, TLP has put together a timeline of important events over the last ten years in Mone’s life, the company, the brands, and of course the frequently changing lineup of spokeswomen. You can view the timeline by clicking on the image.
Timeline constructed by referencing:
What was the original appeal of animal prints on intimate garments?
In the mid-1950s, Sheena Queen of the Jungle, played 
by Irish McCalla, created a hit out of the 26 t.v. episodes that were produced. Inspired by the Tarzan films, the series was so popular that even Elvis Presley made one of his first acting appearances on the show.
Irish ran, swam, and saunted through the jungle in her torn animal prints on 1950s t.v. when June Cleaver types were the normat home. As the decade progressed, the foundation for civil and familial unrest took root. Sheena and her jungle attire were precursers of things to come in society and a wonderful escape from the rigid roles women played at that time.
Sheena Queen of the Jungle has made its way to main stream fashion today. For the last couple decades, jungle prints have torn up the run ways, beaches, and back yard bar-b-ques, going in and out of fashion. Now-a-days, the print has become so popular that even my 54-year-old mother-in-law wears the wildest animal print she can find to go pool-side.
What are some of the lastest animal print swim suits that can be bought for summer?
The Le Doux suit (image above left) can be bought at figleaves.com for $65 (on sale now). The Dolce & Gabbana cross over one piece is $158 (above middle). While the Leopard Print Bikini by Michael Kors is £124 (above right).
In any case, these animal print swimsuits can bring out your sexy seductress side that likes to live on the edge!
Cadolle has a long history of being near the center of French lingerie.
The origin has been claimed by different countries for centuries and by different people. Nevertheless, there seems to be consensus in what French-woman, Herminie Cadolle whom patented the first bra in 1889. The innovation of Cadolle was to divide the traditional corset in two-part undergarment: The bottom half was a corset that covered only the waist and rear; and the top half to support the bosom up to the shoulders appearing with the look of a Victorian bikini.1
This picture from Wikipedia 2 is likely what Cadolle’s invention looked like.
The Cadolle brand stayed with the family and was run mostly by various women including Marie, Hemine’s daughter-in-law. After Marie, her daughter-in-law, Marguerite ran the company. Marguerite had a varied client list including work for Coco Channel and the Duchess of Windsor. Cadolle “went regularly to Mata Hari’s suite at the Ritz. In this privacy Mata Hari would remove the live boas she wore around her neck like amulets and permit Marguerite to take her measurements.”3 Marguerite would leave the business to her daughter Alice.
It appears Alice is responsible for the strange reversal of the Cadolle brand. What started as a liberating choice to the corset, Cadolle now makes some of the most beautiful corsets in the world.4
You may find Cadolle outside of Paris, but if you are in Paris, swing by their store.5
A full history is available on the Cadolle web site. http://www.cadolle.com/GB/histoire2.shtml.
We first introduced you to The Lake & Stars earlier in the year. Since then, designers Maayan Zilberman and Nikki Dekker have experienced much success. They recently were interviewed by New York Magazine for a feature article honoring the 100th Anniversary of the Brassiere (see the article for more features including a piece on the mechanics of the bra!).Additionally, the website now displays pieces from the Fall/Holiday 2007 collection. I love how the collections always tell a story. For fall, a sassy and flirty vibe is evident through the names of the groups such as “We’re on a Break,” “Let’s Go Dutch,” and “Make Up Room.” Here are just a few for you to drool over!
As the brand is growing in popularity, more and more retail and online locations are carrying the products. See the list of stockists to find one nearest you.
There is much controversy about who first invented the brassiere. Henry Lesher is credited by some with patenting the first brassiere, in 1859. While his design looks more or less like a bra, (though the figure of the person wearing it hardly looks like a woman), he designed it primarily as a “breast pad and perspiration shieldâ€. While it was also designed to “give a symmetrical rotundity†it was not intended for breast support.
Many attribute the invention of the modern brassiere to Mary Phelps Jacob mostly because her patent was the first to use the french word “brassiere”. Her invention was backless and was held in place by straps which wrapped around the woman and tied in front. But, as she writes in her patent description, on February 12, 1914 her invention was meant to be worn with evening gowns that were cut low in the back and was intended to “cover the top of the corset and hold the wearer in proper formâ€. Again, she did not mention breast support.
Read the rest of this article right here at Gene’s website!
